my parents talk ideas at dinner: politics, science, history, psychology (any subject and they know it) without that intellectual element their marraige wouldn't be able to survive their otherwise volatile personalities, if one was less intelligent then they would become bored with the other... the smarter you are the more important intellect in other people becomes, it probably doesn't matter for the average, but for a genius (like the genius of a man who discovers Z space) it would be essential, you know how bad it is being stuck on a bus next to someone who is a sandwhich short? now imagine being married to that person.
I always imagine Jake becoming a doctor... until the war he was basically a very nice guy who would make a great doctor if his grades improved.